About Village Sign Caches
This cache belongs to the Village Sign Series, a series of caches based on ornate signs that depict the heritage, history and culture of the villages that put them up (generally on the village green!).
The signs can be made of different materials from fibreglass to wood, from forged steel to stone. They can depict anything from local industry to historical events. The tradition probably started in Norfolk or Suffolk and has now spread across most of the country so we thought we would base a series on them!
More information and statistics can be found at the Village Signs Website
WELCOME TO ZEAL MONACHORUM
Set amid the rolling agricultural heartland of Devon, Zeal Monachorum is the epitome of a tranquil Devon village. Situated about 18 miles north-west of Exeter on the River Yeo, it lies at the centre of Devon, between Crediton and Okehampton, looking towards Dartmoor. There is a local Saxon reference dated AD967 to land at Lesmanoac and early maps refer to the settlement as Monkenfield, Munkton and Monks Nymet. The present name, written earlier as Sele and Zele, is said to derive from the fact that the manor of Zeal Monachorum had been given to the Abbey of Buckfast in 1018 by King Cnut (along with the manor of Down St Mary), hence a “cell of the monks”. The manor remained the property of Buckfast Abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. The link with the Cistercian abbey is seen on the village sign at the top of Town Hill outside the church.
The headline coordinates take you to a commemorative art work with two sets of years ABCD EFGH
Checksum ABCDEFGH = 22
The cache can be found :
N 50 48.( B-A) (D+A)(D+E)
W003°49.(G+H) (E+H) (C+G )
If anybody would like to expand the Village Sign Series, please do. I would ask that you request a number for your cache first at www.villagesignseries.co.uk so we can keep track of the Village Sign numbers and names to avoid duplication.